Shreveport Man Arrested for 2002 Rape of 14-year-old Girl

A Shreveport man is now behind bars for kidnapping and raping a juvenile 14 years ago.

Sheriff Steve Prator says 38-year-old Eugene Ware was arrested after being stopped by Shreveport police for an unrelated traffic offense. Officers learned there was an outstanding warrant from Caddo Parish for Ware's arrest for the kidnap and rape of a 14-year-old girl.

Here's more on the case from the Caddo Sheriff's Office:

In April 2002, the girl reported she was walking to a store in the Mooretown area, when a car with two males inside drove up and started a conversation with her. She was pulled into the car and taken to a wooded area in the parish, where she was sexually assaulted by one of the suspects. Afterward, she asked to be taken home. On the way, she jumped from the vehicle on Kennedy Road and looked for help.

For years, there was no information to identify the suspect in the case, but in February of 2016, a DNA sample provided when Ware was arrested on an unrelated drug charge was matched to the rape and kidnapping case by the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory. Further investigation was conducted by Caddo Sheriff’s Detective Mike King and the North Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory, and an arrest warrant for Ware was obtained by the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office on August 22.

Ware was booked into Caddo Correctional Center for first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping. The second suspect in the case hasn't been identified yet. The investigation continues.